Rating: 
Summary: Excellent subject matter dealt with artfully
Review: I have seen this move several times and I own a copy for loaning out. This movie tackles some of the most treacherous topics and handles them beautifully. Emma Thompson makes this movie the endearing film that is the penultimate product of great ensemble acting, great dialogue, and superb direction from Mike Nichols. This movie is a joy to watch. It is stifling to imagine that an unnamed imbecile saw fit to award the Texas Chainsaw Massacre II with a higher rating and had the mongoloid notion of it being "shallow". He, however, did credit the supporting actor Michael Woodward with his, one can only infer, more important role in the 5th season of the WB network's smash hit "Angel". Kudos for the heads up my man, we'll definitely tune in. His review prompted me to write my own.
Rating: 
Summary: shallow
Review: its shallow...some HBO movies are shallow and hollow at the same time..some are too depressing..though the only reason I watched this dry movie is because of a supporting actor named Jonathan M. Woodard who played Jason. Woodard was on the last season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and can currently be seen on season 5 of Angel..that's all I watched this movie for....it sets itself up for a movie about cancer..but it sorta gets boring after awhile
Rating:
Summary: a must for those in the medical profession
Review: as a nursing student i have just watched this movie in class and i couldn't emphassize enough the need for anoyone entering teh medical profession to watch this movie, especially doctors. you flinch everytime one of the "doctors" enters the room. Emma thompson's performance was brilliant. the stark realism of this movie made it all the more poignant. "death be not proud" takes ona whole new meaning after this movie.
Rating:
Summary: One of the finest performances in cinema history
Review: Emma Thompson turns in her finest performance to date and one of the towering screen performances of all time in this moving HBO drama. She plays a college professor named Dr. Vivian Bearing, seen by her students and colleagues as difficult to handle and work with. Suddenly, her dreary, drab life is turned on it's end when she is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She handles it well, using the apt title of the film to handle her hardships. As you watch her wither, losing hair, weight but never her humor, she takes you along her life through flashbacks, even disturbing the viewer by putting her weak, cancer-ridden body in the place of her youth between scenes. The film is shot like a documentary, with many scenes of oddly humorous dialogue, and Thompson talking to the camera as well. She is portrayed as an intelligent woman, well versed in literature and liable to quote random bits of poetry throughout her speeches. One moment while watching this movie you are chuckling at her wittiness, and in the next you are sobbing into the crook of your elbow. This is one of the few films that I classify as an "ugly-cry" movie, where you lose all shame and begin to weep bitterly as though Dr. Bearing is an old friend. A superb Emmy-worthy performance by Thompson, fine direction, and a terrific supporting cast make this film a true cinematic gem.
Rating:
Summary: Close to a masterpiece.
Review: I just finished watching 'Wit' and I'm not sure if I am truly ready to express how I feel. I have seen the play version on two occasions and both proved to be an astounding night of theatre (I doubt you could do wrong with Margaret Edson's stunning classic). I also own the script and I've read it through and passed it on to many friends so they may be enlightened as well. Finally, it came to the moment in Blockbuster tonight when I had to choose if I wanted to risk the beauty of this work on a movie. How glad I am I did. Although I do prefer the live play version, the movie is stunning. The music, the filming, the detail. Emma Thompson throwing up, Audra McDonald pausing for a moment to massage hand lotion on the dying Vivian, Vivian's old professor reading her a bed time story. Everything comes to life. Hats off to every performer in this movie and special praise to Mike Nichols for so sensitively directing this film and letting the actors have free rein with their art. As I've previously mentioned, I can barely express my love for this newfound treasure, but I urge you to discover it for yourself. If you can make it through without a small tear at some point, you'll be very lucky. Or more accurately, very cold.
Rating:
Summary: The best film I own thats probably the hardest to watch.
Review: I found out that this movie was on DVD when I saw it in the cheap bin at Wal-Mart, but I would have paid significant amounts of money to own this movie. This movie only comes out when I particularly want to cry a lot. If you are already familiar with the movie, and want to read my opions of the DVD as a whole, you can skip to the end of the review, otherwise, read on. To start, you should definitely see the stage production, which is profoundly powerful. However, Emma Thompson gives us a better performance than probably anyone we could hope to see as Vivian. I went through a brief period several years ago wherein I looked for all of the major-name sad movies, because I wanted some really good catharsis (this resulted in a purchase of Beaches [which I don't enjoy] Steel Magnolias [which I do enjoy, but still no tears] and sundry other movies). Most of the time, the heartwrenching effects of a movie wear off after the first viewing, but even after multiple viewings, I end up bawling like nobody's business.
Edson's play is definitely something to read, and this is a fantastically faithful screenplay. The makers of this film knew what they were doing. In addition to Emma, Audra McDonald turns in a fantastic performance. She doesn't need to sing to keep you watching. However, despite a top notch supporting cast, Ms. Thompson truly is what helps this film soar. Take note that this movie has a solid 5 stars. This movie embodies the disturbing scene toward the end when the resident, Jason Posner, discusses cancer as an "awesome" force. If you don't want to admit it, this movie proves that cancer truly is awesome, even if its only in a technical sense, and not at all in a colloquial sense. The journey of this independent woman from hard-willed educator to a woman who is dependent on everyone is awful to watch. Its captivating at the same time. No scene is as painful and beautiful to watch as when Vivian's elderly Professor (E.M. Ashford) cradles next to her to read The Runaway Bunny. In fact, I am completely overcome just thinking about the scene. I can't avoid it, anytime I talk about a DVD, I have to talk about the DVD itself. I have grown so accustomed to extra features, that I look at every DVD with regards to features. This one has none whatsoever, except for really good Actor bios. In fact, this DVD has some of the best actor bios that I have seen on a DVD. But that's all it has, there are no special features. Of course, it doesn't require special features. This movie stands alone and is worth any price you can pay for it, special features or not.
Rating:
Summary: what a wonderful movie
Review: it takes a lot to make this cynical reviewer cry, but this movie managed that feat and so much more. emma thompson is wonderful through all stages of the treatment, and this is the most touching movie i've seen in ages.
Rating:
Summary: great movie
Review: best film I have ever seen period.
Rating: 
Summary: Un film exceptionnel, bouleversant, insoutenable, magistral
Review: Quel jeu magnifique que celui d'Emma Thompson ! Quelle mise en scène saisissante - implacable dans son réalisme insidieusement cruel - que celle de Mike Nichols ! Basé sur la pièce de Marguerite Edson, Emma Thompson incarne le rôle de Vivian Bearing, professeur d'université renommé, atteint d'un cancer ovarien au stade avancé. Tout au long du film, Vivian observe - sans concession, avec un cynisme analytique saisissant, teinté d'humour noir désopilant, mais toujours incroyablement pertinent - la progression de sa condition « terminale ». C'est dans ce sens que je trouve ce film particulièrement dur... non pas d'une dureté « gratuite », mais au contraire d'une dureté souverainement utile et de bon aloi, vu l'enseignement magistral qui s'en dégage. C'est que ce film nous rappelle à de très cruelles réalités, que nous essayons la plupart du temps d'éluder - voire d'escamoter -, ne serait-ce qu'à dessein de pas ébranler de bien fragiles certitudes. Et que dire de ces médecins - voire, pire encore, de ces « professeurs de médecine » -, lesquels, bien que bardés de diplômes ronflants, semblent si souvent incapables de compassion et d'amour véritables dans ce qui devrait pourtant incarner l'exercice primordial de leur profession « sacerdotale » ? C'est que la thanatologie (l'art de l'accompagnement aux mourants) relève d'une forme d'abnégation qui pourrait légitimement se comparer à un véritable apostolat, lequel implique, dès lors, une qualité d'écoute supérieure d'autrui, ainsi qu'un don de soi des plus oblatifs. Ce faisant, comment ne pas être ému aux larmes par la bonté, les soins empreints d'amour inconditionnel et de sollicitude maternelle de cette infirmière qui, elle, au moins, saura pleinement compatir à la douleur secrètement vécue par son « amie », qu'elle accompagnera jusqu'au bout du chemin, avec une noblesse de cœur remarquable, assortie d'un respect humain exemplaire. La trame du film se réfère donc essentiellement au sujet crucial qui nous concerne tous : notre finitude et, surtout, le droit que devrait être celui de chacun : LE DROIT DE MOURIR DANS LA DIGNITÉ !
Rating:
Summary: Ladies and Gentlemen, A Five Star Downer, Great but Grim!
Review: I'll not go on and on about the obvious merits of this film, the performances, the script, the realism, the reality, and the horrors every woman fears at the very words 'ovarian cancer'. Emma Thompson gives us a flawless performance, so many of us had a teacher or professor just like her, and never loses her dignity (perhaps that's the tragedy, right there) while she suffers the endless indignities of her experimental cancer treatment. The Professor is witty, gratifyingly so, and bereft, embarrassingly so, of any personal life to prop her up during the last scenes of her life. Enter Eileen Atkins' character. The Professor's former mentor, a woman so terrifyingly brilliant and yet so completely rooted to the ground, who feels the need earlier in their years together to advise the young Professor to go out and have some fun. We suspect that the Professor does not heed this very good advice. For me, Eileen Atkins performance stole the entire show. Emma Thompson was flawless, but shackled by her character's sang-froid, where Eileen Atkins was gifted with the best of both worlds--the academic and the family. Beware, this is a very difficult film to digest. I came away knowing for sure that if I ever was diagnosed with terminal cancer that it would be best to bail as soon as possible and with as much pain-killing medication that heaven allows.
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